As far as I know, this is clearly the case, steering wheels users in general are still a minority, also in all the others racing games, except maybe IRacing. And for the DD wheels, a few hundred is indeed a realistic sales figure, but I don't think Fanatec is expecting more for now. Again, our hobby is only a niche, we all hope it'll grow more and more, but we need to watch the reality, a few thousands of steering wheels (classic + DD) is a drop in the ocean compared to the millions of joypad players on consoles + PC. And finally, 2600 dollars might be OK for hardcore simracers but it is most likely way too expensive for a majority of gamers.
Lately, I am seeing so many DD users. For instance, every second picture on the internet or forums shows a DD drive. Youtubers (most of them) are sitting behind the DD wheels. For those who don't have DD, you can say or talk anything you want negative or positive BUT.........once you try it, you wont be able to resist and you will find ways to spend MONEY on it. As a result you will have an amazing experience like never before, you wont regret it either. You might get divorce if you are married and eat rice for a long time.
Great post and totally agreed. Being a DD user, I would love to know if Sector 3 will add a little support for DD users this year?
Well then weve got nothing to disagree about here although makes it sound a little different Edit: now that i see who i quoted i realised youre not the guy i thought you were @morpwr so forget what i wrote
What a very civilised conversation ;-), maybe we should start another thread as I realised it's on the developer notes thread lol.
I totally agree 2600 dollars is a lot of money and most wont spend that but 1000-1500 is very realistic when we think nothing of spending close to that on an 80/20 rig. Im still shocked by the amount of people that dropped 1500 for a Fanatec DD to play on a PS4.
That's exactly it. Just in the last year how many guys have you seen go to a DD or are waiting for theirs to arrive when the new ones get released. Im eating rice.
Lol I started with a cheap T150 wheel. And see where I am now. Bought an expensive PC. With VR and all. Fanatec wheel v2.5 etc etc etc. I just wanted to have a more immersive gameing experience. I though 120 euro for a wheel on my PS4 was expensive. Wrongggg. But I love it. Now I want a motion rig. Where does it end? I love what I have I really do. If it has to stay with what I have now then I'm verry happy. If I could upgeade then that is great althoug no must.
Well, I'm eating rice everyday (because I like it ), but personally I wouldn't spend more than 300-400 Euros for a complete steering wheel + pedal set. I even find it too expensive already but it's difficult to find something acceptable under this price nowadays (my first wheel was a Logitech Formula GP I bought in 2000 for 69 Euros). And this is from a guy who likes driving in games everyday and uses his wheel for work, so you can imagine what it is for a regular/occasional player .
I would never spend 2400€ or so on a DD-Base. 1500€ would be absolute maximum for me. In the end I payed 1330€ (VAT and shipping included, shipping alone was 40€ with DHL express) for my base and never regretted a single penny of it. and I think I don't need a base upgrade for the next 10 years (but wheels are always welcome). Now next on my list is teaching my rig to do some motion :-D
Anything over 1000€ for DD motor is too much. You can buy an Augury kit with the small mige motor and have endless fun. The price is under 1000€ and you wont look back or look for any better. To be more precise, Augury Kit 130st Mige, 20nm, 10000 encoder. This is plenty good for 1000€ mark.
Unfortunately it rarely comes down to spending money just on a DD base. Going this way implies a variety of other purchases like a steering wheel, sturdy simrig, a set of pedals (as you can't really plug most of mass market pedals without some proper adapter) and so on. As often as I use my T150 at my old desk I dream of a high-end, years-lasting simracing hardware available today just to feel even more immersed. My mancave is already on the way but well... as usual, its all about the money they want vs the money I got I hope when it finally happens, RR will be already full supported in DD!
Rigs don't have to be expensive, I built mine for less than £100. So strong you could probably park a car on it.
Got mine bolted to an old mahogany desk that weighs more than I do and I'm not light ;-), it does not move at all. True you have to add a rim but you can pick up a decent one for around £300 with USB but you do have to add pedals I went Fanatec V3.
The Augury isn't under 1000€ when you add taxes and shipping. My Simucube was a bit above 1000€ at this time but I had to pay VAT on top. I don't think over 1000€ is too much (I get suspicious when it's cheap). If you are willing to sacrifice some quality then ok, but (almost) every DD out there has a very high standard in component quality. Most are industrial grade standard which comes with a cost. 1k to 1.5k is a good price imo, everything above is luxury, everything below a sacrifice in quality. (Imo)
I have a Simucbe OSW DD wheel, never regret buying it. And now I am sitting with SFX-100 rig, never regret building it. Every hobby is expensive, it is just how you look at it.
It's like everything, if you can afford it and you can justify it then it's not expensive. I've got more money tied up in bikes in the garage than I care to think about yet I can't justify the expense for sim racing (yet)